Volume 16 (2022-23)

Each volume of Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning consists of four 100-page issues both in print and online. Articles scheduled for Volume 16 are available to view on the 'Forthcoming content' page.

The articles and case studies confirmed for Volume 16 are listed below:

Volume 16 Number 3

Editorial
Lyndon Bird, Editor, Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning
The King County Regional Trusted Partner Network: A case study of programme development, implementation and lessons learned from the first two years
Sheri Badger, Public Information Officer and Susanna Trimarco, Public Outreach Specialist, King County Office of Emergency Management

In 2017, Washington State passed a law requiring life-safety alerts and warnings to be delivered to its residents in languages they understand. In response, King County Emergency Management and its partners developed an inclusive emergency communications plan to address this challenge. A key goal of this plan was the development of a trusted partner network (TPN), run by volunteers from the county’s various language and ethnic groups, to relay timely life-safety alerts to their communities, in order to save additional lives and property. This paper outlines the development of the TPN from concept to activation, and shares the lessons learned along the way. It also describes the limitations of the programme and the various factors that jurisdictions should consider before replicating such a programme.
Keywords: LEP; alerts; emergency; language access; messaging; communications; ethnic
What COVID-19 has taught us about effective employee communication
Oliver S. Schmidt, President & Chief Executive Officer, C4CS

Effective communication with internal and external stakeholders is an indispensable component of a successful response to crises both brief and long-lasting. Employee communication must increase in volume and frequency, and effectively inform, educate and empower employees. The development, testing and delivery of clear and easy-to-understand messages must be prioritised along with the enablement of continuous employee feedback. Drawing on industry best practice, personal experience and an extensive review of the literature, this paper concludes that the systematic planning, implementation and evaluation of a company’s employee communication must be conducted on an ongoing, company-wide basis so that management can rely on it to minimise crisis-related damage, seize the opportunities a crisis may present, and convert the resulting organisational change into competitive advantages.
Keywords: employee communication; COVID-19 response; crisis preparedness; continuous dialogue; communication allies; consistent messaging
Provincial incident command system: Manitoba’s response to the COVID-19 Omicron wave
David Matear, Provincial Executive Director, Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force, Government of Manitoba

This paper describes how the Government of Manitoba employed the incident command system (ICS) to support its COVID-19 response from March 2020 to March 2022. The paper describes how the system evolved during this period to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency response and recovery efforts. The paper supports a more comprehensive implementation of the ICS to manage emergency and recovery effectively, with specific reference to the Omicron wave of the pandemic.
Keywords: emergency preparedness; healthcare; hospital; incident command system
Failsafe points in data centre disaster recovery response
Russell Neal, Independent Consultant in Data Centre Disaster Recovery Planning and Technical Programme Management

Certain social psychological variables can result in delays to essential steps in IT data centre disaster recovery response, including the formal declaration of disaster. These delays can result in failure to meet recovery time objectives, additional financial losses, regulatory issues and a significant loss of customer goodwill, all beyond what would have been incurred in the absence of delays. This paper describes a failsafe model to counter these variables. The model will help ensure that any disaster recovery response step earmarked as a failsafe point is completed in a timely manner, from the moment of disaster to the resumption of business.
Keywords: information technology (IT) disaster recovery; failsafe; bystander effect; locus of control; submission to authority; leadership style; emergent norms; invocation delays; decision delays
Turning islands into bridges: Community-based response after a catastrophic earthquake
Consuelo Crow, Emergency Planner, Seattle Office of Emergency Management and Lucia Schmit, Director, Snohomish County, WA Department of Emergency Management

The workforce rallying point model is intended to activate within the first 24 hours after a catastrophic earthquake. Its purpose is to provide employees with access to critical information and early response assignments following a Cascadia subduction zone-type event. The consequences from a catastrophic event could include loss of communication with departmental leadership, as well as loss of safe worksite facilities. A systems failure of this magnitude requires rethinking traditional centralised disaster response models. Building from lessons learned in past catastrophes, the City of Seattle is rewriting its earthquake response plan to account for an unknown period of isolation. The Seattle Office of Emergency Management has identified eight sites as potential workforce rallying points based on anticipated impacts to bridges, roadways and other infrastructure. Workforce rallying points serve four primary purposes: (1) citywide communications connectivity for consequence management activities, (2) City of Seattle staff collection and assignment points, (3) impact assessment and reporting hubs, and (4) public information distribution points, including the availability of in-language community messaging. The new plan embraces decentralised decision making, through workforce rallying points, and by supporting community empowerment through spontaneous community response efforts.
Keywords: workforce rallying point; community lifelines; earthquake; catastrophe; isolation phase; Cascadia
Nanomanagement networking: Organisational resilience to COVID-19 surge capacity in Egypt
Wael Omran Aly, Professor of Public Administration, High Institute of Management Sciences and Foreign Trade, New Cairo Academy

This paper draws on the literature of nanomanagement and organisational resilience to explore the reality of surge capacity in the context of the Egyptian government’s effort to contain the recent COVID-19 pandemic. It utilises nanomanagement networking to explain the significant models of decision making, communication and sense making, taking into account the resilient interconnections and interdependence among organisations, to understand how these impact on the resilience of crisis management surge capacity. With a focus on COVID-19 crisis management in Egypt, the study analyses empirical data collected from interviews with actors from different governmental organisations. Following this, the paper focuses on the role of nanomanagement in realising the resilience of interorganisational network capacity to obtain accurate and up-to-date information in order to develop the system strategies and responses necessary to enable convenient surge capacity for COVID-19 crisis management.
Keywords: nanomanagement; surge capacity; organisational resilience; COVID-19 crisis management

Volume 16 Number 2

Editorial
Lyndon Bird, Editor, Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning
Preparing for compounding crises: Staff shortages and cyber-attack vulnerability in the era of COVID-19
Joshua Klindienst, Emergency Physician, US Acute Care Solutions, et al.

In 2020, while the USA was experiencing successive waves of COVID-19, Universal Health Services experienced a major cyber attack that crippled electronic systems in over 200 hospitals, including a major academic medical centre that was playing a key regional role in COVID-19 care and clinical trials. This paper discusses the impact of the attack on clinical operations, informatics, research and teaching, contextualising the case study within more wide-scale trends driving the rise in cyber attacks on healthcare systems. The compounding relationships between COVID-19, healthcare workforce depletion and cyber-security vulnerabilities form the framework of the discussion and action plan. Commitments to institutional best practices, large-scale investments in infrastructure, and above all increasing support for the critical human actors carrying out the work, are urgently needed to secure the healthcare system against these destabilising threats. Within this context, this paper argues that information security in the healthcare sector must be reimagined and integrated with greater support for the needs of frontline healthcare workers.
Keywords: COVID-19, cyber attacks, healthcare sector, information security
Using a risk-based approach to protect high-risk chemical infrastructure
Todd Klessman, Deputy Associate Director for Chemical Security, Zeina Azar, Section Chief for Standardization and Evaluation, Office of Chemical Security and Gina Bell, Programme Analyst, Office of Chemical Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

This paper provides an overview of the steps that entities in possession of potentially dangerous chemicals can take to reduce the risk that those chemicals will be stolen, diverted or weaponised, starting with the identification and assessment of the chemicals that may present a security risk, and concluding with the development and implementation of an appropriate facility security plan. The paper describes the different types of security risks presented by different chemicals, the security concepts a facility should keep in mind when designing its security plan, and the five primary security guideposts that any comprehensive chemical facility security plan should address, namely: detection; delay; response; cyber security; and policies, plans and procedures.
Keywords: chemical security, risk management, security-in-depth, security guideposts
The Kaiser Permanente Northern California COVID-19 physician redeployment experience: Redeploying physicians to meet the demands of the pandemic
Mary C. Meyer, Regional Medical Director of Emergency Management, The Permanente Medical Group, et al.

This paper describes a redeployment programme developed by Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KP NCAL) to meet physician staffing needs during five COVID-19 surges in Northern California. By leveraging two existing programmes, creating a flexible system of redeployment levels, and supporting the system with a robust training programme, the physician redeployment programme effectively addressed physician staffing needs, maximised excellent patient care, and supported KP NCAL physicians during the pandemic. The programme delivered care to over 131,000 outpatients with COVID-19 infection and redeployed physicians into more than 800 inpatient shifts.
Keywords: emergency management, disaster response, surge staffing, pandemic response, physician redeployment
Anticipating ‘The Big One’: Developing decision support with emergency managers to mitigate flood impacts
Jacob Asherman, Meteorologist, National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, et al.

Flooding from excessive rainfall remains a major weather hazard with respect to lives and property. The US National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center and National Water Center work continuously and collaboratively to produce accurate and timely forecasts of potential flooding disasters for the public. This paper explores their ongoing efforts to mitigate flood impacts with enhanced impact-based decision support services, via the Excessive Rainfall Outlook (ERO) and Flood Inundation Mapping (FIM) services. Future directions for precipitation and flood inundation forecasting are also discussed. Through the ERO and FIM services, the National Weather Service hopes to strengthen collaboration with partners in the weather industry, emergency management and water resources management to develop weather, water and climate readiness in communities around the nation.
Keywords: flood, inundation, impact, precipitation, excessive rainfall, flash flooding, mitigation, emergency management
Crisis decision making: Lessons from a SWAT team
Kevin Cyr, Officer in Charge, Lower Mainland District Integrated Emergency Response Team, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Operating in environments with catastrophic downside risk requires the application of decision-making processes that differ from those applied in situations with more symmetrical risk-to-reward ratios. Using a case study of a SWAT team deployed for a manhunt of an armed gunman who had shot numerous people including a police officer, this paper explores how to avoid excessive information gathering by applying a bias for action and limiting variables. The paper also discusses the danger in attenuating the aggressiveness of action as a means to mitigate risk. Instead, the author argues that decision makers should distinguish between the questions of if they should do something rather than how they should do something. By defining decision gates to separate these questions, decision makers will be better equipped to differentiate uncertainty from indecision. Finally, the paper looks at the difference between strategies that prioritise efficiency over effectiveness and recommends assessments of decision-making processes rather than just outcomes when reviewing critical incident response.
Keywords: critical incident command, decision-making, risk management
COVID-19 and continuity planning: One university’s perspective
Anne-Marie McLaughlin, Director of Emergency Management and Continuity and Caleb Palley, Continuity Analyst, New York University Department of Campus Safety

In 2018, New York University shifted from conventional continuity of operations planning to what the team has dubbed ‘continuity for action’. Prior to 2018, business continuity efforts at the university were decentralised. Now, however, the university uses a relational database that allows data to be accessed quickly to meet the needs of an emergency. The migration of plans into this database has taken time, but the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the utility of the approach. This paper describes the university’s adoption of the ‘continuity for action’ approach and offers insights into how business continuity planning data plays a critical role in speeding an organisation from response into recovery.
Keywords: resiliency, higher education, continuity, compliance, emergency management, COVID-19
Effective coordination of cyber incidents: The role of emergency management
Casey Ramsey, Director of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, Hall County

This paper discusses how a cyber attack can impact on local government. It walks through the 2020 cyber attack on Hall County, GA and how the County responded. Emphasis is placed on how the local emergency management agency was utilised and designated the lead agency to coordinate the response. The paper explains both why and how emergency management should be involved in the response to such attacks. Finally, the paper reviews the lessons learned and changes made as a result of the attack.
Keywords: ransomware, cyber attack, Hall County, Hall County EMA
Why and how to shift from passive planning to active risk management
Andy Witts, Senior Director of Alliances, Infinite Blue

This paper will recap and review some of the common pain points experienced by different industry verticals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper argues that risk assessment exercises provide valuable data that organisations can leverage in their business impact analyses to better identify the gaps and areas that need attention.
Keywords: risk assessment, business impact analysis, compound threats, vendors, single point of failure, applications, processes, business continuity plan, pandemic, COVID-19

Volume 16 Number 1

Editorial
Lyndon Bird, Editor, Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning
Resilience risk controls and the Netflix Unified Resilience Framework
Scott Baldwin, Global Head of Enterprise Resilience, Gayle Anders, Global Business Continuity Program Manager and T.J. Mead, Global Technology Continuity Program Manager, Netflix

This paper argues that programmes built around existing enterprise resilience/business continuity management (ER/BCM) metrics provide a low return on investment, which ultimately can damage the perceived value of the industry. It goes on to introduce a new approach to creating and measuring ER/BCM programmes that provides a much greater level of return for a smaller investment. Finally, it describes how this new approach can be used to satisfy traditional programme requirements, and provides a shared framework for emerging uses, such as cyber resilience.
Keywords: business continuity, technology resiliency, disaster recovery, information security, enterprise resilience, criticality, capability
How to leverage business leadership’s newfound interest in business continuity
Grace Burley, Managing Director, Witt O’Brien’s

In 2020, business continuity programmes around the world came under the spotlight like never before. This paper investigates whether business continuity professionals have done enough to maintain this newfound attention and leverage the opportunity associated with it. The paper argues that business continuity professionals must build on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 response and work more closely with business leaders. The paper describes practical and tangible ways to do this, including leveraging data and asking leadership for feedback on existing approaches and plans, with a view to maintaining business leaders’ focus on business continuity.
Keywords: business continuity, business disruption, business leadership, business continuity data, business continuity plans, business crisis, resilience, supply chain, pandemic
Public–private intelligence coordination
Chris Trzeciak, Vice President and Business Continuity Risk Officer, Nuveen and Michael Hink, Police Officer, Chicago Police Department

The majority of US critical infrastructure is managed and controlled by the private sector. Nearly all commercial and retail banking is operated by private corporations and non-public entities. This reality creates the need for timely information sharing between the public and private sectors to support effective crisis response. This paper explores the current information-sharing environment between the public and private sectors and identifies best practices for improving information sharing between private and public sector organisations.
Keywords: public–private partnership, information sharing, intelligence coordination
The pros and cons of having a third-party vendor manage one’s business continuity programme
Kurt Sohn, Vice President, Client Experience, Virtual Corporation

Whether starting from scratch or inheriting a business continuity programme that has struggled to meet management expectations, how does one choose the best path forward? When is the right time to leverage external resources, and how does one do so effectively? When should one look to outsource certain parts of the programme, and when does it make sense to rely completely on third-party vendors? This paper discusses the key information to know before making such decisions, providing readers with the tools they need to evaluate vendors properly before entering into a contract, thus helping organisations hire the ‘extra help’ they need.
Keywords: outsourcing business continuity, outsourcing business resilience, business continuity consulting, business continuity as a service, disaster recovery as a service
Business continuity beyond COVID-19: Lessons learned and the ‘illusion of preparedness’
Tracy Hall, Senior Manager, Wolf & Company

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organisations to react swiftly to an evolving crisis and find creative solutions in real time. In a relatively short period, remote access, employee hardware requirements and flexible work schedules have significantly raised people’s expectations regarding what constitutes a ‘normal’ level of preparedness. However, have organisations capitalised on the lessons learned from the event to improve operational practices and business opportunities, or has the situation merely created an illusion of preparedness? This paper describes the incredible strides made over the last two years before exploring the key lessons that have been overlooked and discussing the potentially misleading sense of readiness that threatens to prevail.
Keywords: pandemic planning, COVID-19, preparedness, business continuity
Remote work and climate change: Considerations for grid resilience in the 21st century
Jackie Ratner, Senior Project Manager, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, et al.

This paper explores how the unprecedented dependence on remote work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the demand for electricity. The paper discusses how the increased dependence on information and communication technologies has driven a shift in the daytime demand for power, from the commercial sector to the residential sector, prompting changes in the way electric utilities plan for peak load demand. As the article goes on to argue, this exposes the growing need for greater grid resilience in order to safeguard the supply of electricity in the face of increasingly frequent potential disruptions such as extreme weather events. The paper finds that emergency planners and responders, public agencies, utilities and other public and private sector stakeholders will need to collaborate ever more closely when devising and implementing solutions as well as when responding to emergencies.
Keywords: remote work, energy, electricity, grid, resilience
Returning to the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic: A framework to inform business decision-making
Lisa M. Koonin, Founder and Principal, Health Preparedness Partners

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many office-based workplaces closed and a large proportion of the workforce switched to working remotely. Plans to return to the office, however, have been delayed on several occasions due to surges in cases related to virus variants. Recognising that businesses need to know when and how to return safely to their offices, this paper provides a six-part framework to help guide their decisions regarding workplace re-entry.
Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, return-to-work, workplace, policies, office, framework
Society matters: What steps can be taken to minimise elite panic?
Deborah FitzPatrick, Business Continuity Advisor, St John Ambulance

This paper examines the concept of panic, drawing on the experience of the people of New Orleans in the lead-up and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Of particular interest is how residents of the city were affected by the response from the city’s elite leadership. The paper discusses the lessons learned from this event and provides recommendations to reduce elite panic and improve cooperation between emergency management leaders and those governing the communities, regions and countries they serve, with a view to enhancing social capital.
Keywords: panic, elite panic, psycho-social awareness, evacuation, emergency management, Hurricane Katrina
Lessons learned from the California fire season: Behind the lens
Dana Carey, Office of Emergency Services Manager and Isamar Garcia, Emergency Services Planner, Yolo County Office of Emergency Services

Wildfires in California have been progressively increasing in duration, intensity and frequency. In response, a number of best practices have been developed for mitigating and responding to fires within the state. This paper describes the lessons learned within core capabilities and describes current practices. Reflections are offered as a consideration and should not be interpreted as standards of practice.
Keywords: California, fires, operational coordination, alert and warning, evacuations, mass care, preparedness